Catholic Fire

HAPPY 84th BIRTHDAY, HOLY FATHER! Today is Pope John Paul II's 84th birthday. I heard on the news today that he is the third longest living pontiff in history. To send him a birthday card, go to http://www.vatican.va . The Holy Father has been the inspiration for my life -- nothing stops him -- gunshot wounds from an assassin, Parkinson's -- from preaching the gospel message. He has been a playwright, an actor, a poet, a factory worker, an author, a priest, a bishop, a skier, a swimmer, a hiker, a world traveler, a child of Mary, and a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He loves as Jesus loved -- seeking out others and sharing his gifts with the children of the world. I pray that the Lord will bless him abundantly this day for being the genuine hero we can all look up to and attempt to emulate. I thank God for him and his holy leadership today during these trying times in the Church. I will always remember him as the bearer of hope in my life. During difficult times, I often...

Our Lady of Good Counsel On April 25, 1467, the feast of St. Mark, the people of Genazzano, Italy witnessed a miracle. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they heard exquisite music – the sound of angelic voices singing. Then, as they gazed upward at the clear blue sky, they saw a mysterious cloud appear and descend upon an unfinished wall of their church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared, a beautiful image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was revealed which had not been there before. The church bells rang of their accord and many people from the countryside rushed into the city to investigate the reason for the ringing. Many miracles occurred shortly after the appearance of the image, which were attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Consequently, Pope Paul II ordered an investigation of the image. The same image had been seen in a church dedicated to the Annunciation in Scutari, Albania. The image in this chu...

Prayer to Our Lady, Mother of Mercy Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanks for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent! Receive our gratitude, and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and enable them to make our peace with God. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you feel now your help and protection. Be ready to help us when we pray, and bring back to us the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual concern to pray for the people of God, for you were blessed by God and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world, who lives and reigns forever. Amen. -- Saint Augustine of Hippo

The First Step in Changing Society How do we change the society we live in to be more in tune with the laws of God? What is the secret of motivating people to become more virtuous? These are questions that I continually ask myself. In these times of constant unrest in the world where the prevailing attitude is "an eye for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth", where innocent human beings are slaughtered in the womb daily, and our disabled and elderly are treated as burdens on society, I ask myself what can I as one person do to promote change? The answer I consistently receive in my conversations with God are to come before Him daily and to surrender my life to Him and to His Holy Mother. This begins with offering up all my thoughts, words, actions, joys, and sufferings to Jesus and Mary. A prayer as simple as, "All for You, Mary" will suffice. A morning offering and more formal consecration prayers to Jesus and to Mary are part of my usual routi...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOTHER ANGELICA! Mother Angelica, you have been an angel to me. You have brought Jesus into my heart and soul when I have been homebound and too ill to go out. You have taught me how to love and laugh in the midst of pain. You have helped me to learn how to offer up my pain, my sufferings, and trials to the Lord. Thank you for strengthening my faith and for teaching me how to handle my suffering and trials by your wonderful example. Every time I hear your name or see your smiling face, a deep joy fills my heart. I am praying for an abundance of graces for you today, Mother. Happy Birthday, Mother! "Unless we are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous." -- Mother Angelica

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH IN HONOR OF SAINT JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF MARY by Saint Louis de Montfort Let’s sing a hymn in honor Of Saint Joseph, the protector And spouse of Mary. Humble Joseph is little known. No one on earth truly understands him But he ravishes the blessed. May earth unite with heaven May everything glorify him! Great saint, God found only you Worthy to be the spouse Of His admirable Mother. Spouse of the Queen of heaven, This privilege is marvelous; Witness of her holiness Guardian of her purity, O incomparable glory! The Eternal Father chose you To nourish His Son on earth, To be His vicar. You have carried in your arms He who holds everything in His hands, By a most special choice You have been the nurturer Of your own Father. Oh! to have seen Him caress you Smile at you and embrace you With extraordinary love. His smiles pierced your heart And filled it with tenderness. Embraced by His love. You told Him, in your turn, My dear ...

ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this today to me forever By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power Of the great love of cherubim; The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim, Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls, All good deeds done unto the Lord And purity of virgin souls. I bind unto myself today The virtues of the star lit heaven, The glorious sun’s life giving ray, The whiteness of the moon at even, The flashing of the lightning free, The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, The stable earth, the deep salt sea Around the old eternal rocks. I ...

CHARITY If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others...We should learn how to give, but we should not regard giving as an obligation, but as a desire. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

SAINT JOHN OF GOD St. John of God was born on March 8, 1495 in a small village in the south of Portugal called Montemor-o-Novo. At the age of eight, he left home and was raised by a Spanish family in Oropesa. John spent most of his life as a wanderer, working as a shepherd, soldier, bookseller and laborer, travelling in Europe and North Africa. When St. John of God finally settled in Granada around the age of forty he was so deeply moved by the preaching of Blessed John of Avila, that he gave away all his worldly possessions to the poor and went about the city beating his breast, begging for God’s mercy. His conversion experience was so dramatic in its intensity that he was placed in a psychiatric hospital. His brief experience of this kind of treatment resulted in a deep compassion for the afflicted and gave him a personal and profound understanding of the real needs of the sick. He devoted the rest of his life to caring for those in need. John's work was motivated b...

St. Katherine Drexel “The patient and humble endurance of the cross – whatever nature it may be – is the highest work we have to do.”

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST I have just seen The Passion of the Christ. What a powerful movie! Never in my life (of 50+ years) have I witnessed a film that had such a powerful impact on me! And, I already knew the story line, the plot, and the outcome before I went in to see it. The Passion of the Christ has the power to open hearts to abundant grace and to convert souls. It will draw each of us closer to Jesus Christ and to His Holy Mother, if we permit it. The movie is violent -- even more so than I expected it to be --but I believe that it is still probably not as violent as the real crucifixion was. It is that violence that makes us commiserate with Jesus Christ in His agony and motivates us even more to fully unite our pain with His. We are so spoiled in our society today that if we cut our finger or get a headache, then we're complaining about our pain and immediately have to take something to relieve of us of the discomfort. If you watch this film, you get a taste of w...

Quote For the Day "If a politician can't respect the life of a little baby, how is he supposed to respect yours?" Father Frank Pavone, Priests For Life

Humility “If then, Your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13: 14 “ He humbled Himself, becoming obedient, even to death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8 “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others. Have among you the same attitude that is also yours in Jesus Christ.” Philippians 2: 3-5 A Prayer for Humility Lord, teach me to be humble As you were humble When you washed the feet of your followers, When you permitted others to scourge and mock you, When you persevered in the midst of pain, And united your will with that of the Father’s. Teach me the truth that is humility, The foundation of faith, hope, and charity Empty my heart of pride And fill it with Your love. ~ Jean M. Heimann, Copyright 2004 “True humility makes no pretence of being h...

Lent "Lent is the time for entering into oneself. It is the period of the particular intimacy with God in the secrecy of one’s own heart and conscience… Lent is essentially an invitation to conversion. The 'works of mercy' spoken of in the gospel open the way to it." "Let ourselves be reconciled with God, for He has done so much for this reconciliation." ~ Pope John Paul II Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time when we are called as Catholics to a deeper conversion and cleansing of our hearts. It is a time where we are called to give ourselves totally to God and to remove any obstacles that prevent Him from drawing nearer to us. Lent reminds me of the spring-cleaning that I do each year. Each spring, I clean my house thoroughly and throw out or give away the items in my home that I no longer use. I rid my house of the clutter and make room for the necessary items or create new space so I can move about more freely without st...

My Favorite Quotes on Materialism and Attachment The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly. -- Saint John of the Cross Simplicity is a narrow road of self-discipline, but the alternative -- money and materialism-- is only another master. ... Jesus never said material things in themselves are evil, but rather warned that they threaten our freedom. In this context, simplicity is not restriction, sacrifice, or denial. It is emancipation. -- Living More with Less We can not become whole in a culture of materialism, in a culture with so much junk on television, in movies, so much crassness, so much sordidness, so much self-absorption. This is exactly the opposite of wholeness. There is grave danger that we can permi...

Prayer to Our Lady Of Lourdes Oh ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comfortess of the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Look upon me with mercy. When you appeared in the grotto of Lourdes, you made it a privileged sanctuary where you dispense your favors, and where many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. My loving Mother, obtain my request. I will try to imitate your virtues so that I may one day share your company and bless you in eternity. Amen.

Eucharistic Quote For the Day The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host. -- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Blessed Mother appeared to a very poor young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, 18 times in 1858. On the feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady revealed to Bernadette, “ I am the Immaculate Conception.” Because the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had been officially proclaimed less than four years earlier, and Bernadette could not have even known of its existence, great credibility was given to Bernadette by the repetition of the Blessed Mother’s words. It was an affirmation from Heaven about the truth of the dogma. During one of these apparitions, when Bernadette was told by Mary to begin digging in the ground; she obediently did so, to the townspeople’s scorn. Water immediately began flowing from the spot where Bernadette dug, a tiny stream that has since has grown to the size of a small river. Thousands of healings have been reported as the result of people bathing in or drinking this miraculous water. The walls of the grotto where the Blessed Mother appe...

Eucharistic Quote For the Day "All my sermons are prepared in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. As recreation is most pleasant and profitable in the sun, so homiletic creativity is best nourished before the Eucharist. The most brilliant ideas come from meeting God face to face. The Holy Spirit that presided at the Incarnation is the best atmosphere for illumination. Pope John Paul II keeps a small desk or writing pad near him whenever he is in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament; and I have done this all my life — I am sure for the same reason he does, because a lover always works better when the beloved is with him." - Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Litany to the Saints (in honor of my friend, Theresa, and all those who are ill or are having surgery today) Please join me in prayer. Litany of All Saints Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. God our Father in heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, our redeemer, have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Mother of God, pray for us. Most honored of all virgins, pray for us. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, pray for us. Angels of God, pray for us. Prophets and Fathers of our Faith St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us. St. Andrew, pray for us. St. John and St. James, pray for us. St. Thomas, pray for us. St. Matthew, pray for us. All holy apostles, pray for us. St. Luke, pray for us. St. Mark, pray for us. St. Barnabas, pray for us. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us. All disciples of the Lord, p...